The Graduate School has announced recipients for the 2021 Dean’s Awards. Dr. Makeba Wilbourn, Associate Professor of the Practice of Psychology and Neuroscience, was among three professors to received the honor of Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentoring. See full list of all honorees here. Read her personal interview about the joys of mentoring and how she herself learns from her mentees here. View the ceremony here. read more about Congratulations to Dr. Wilbourn on receiving a Dean's Award! »
The 2021 Museum of African American History Stone Book Award is now open for submissions until April 15th, 2021! The Winning Prize has been increased! Thanks to the generosity of the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation, the 2021 MAAH Stone Book Award winning prize has been increased from $25,000 to $50,000 and finalists prizes have been increased from $5,000 to $10,000 each. Dr. Gary Bennett also sits on the review board… read more about The 2021 MAAH Stone Book Award is now open for submissions! »
Wake County is the latest to ban hair discrimination, citing research from Prof. Ashleigh Shelby Rosette that demonstrates bias against Black women who wear their hair in its naturally curly state. Durham, Carrboro and Greensboro have all added protections against hair discrimination and Raleigh is considering a similar ordinance for city employees. Ashley Rosette conducted her research at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. The study, which was co-authored by Rosette and Christy Koval, was published in… read more about 'Don't take this for granted.' Wake County bans hair discrimination, cites Duke Research »
On the fourth episode of The Ways & Means podcast series “The Arc of Justice – From Here to Equality” Dr. William Darity and A. Kirsten Mullen are joined by Duke professors Deondra Rose and Adriane Lentz-Smith discuss the impact of education on success and advancement. Education is a doorway to prosperity. Yet, time and again in American history, that door has been shut for African American people. Consider the GI Bill, which provided college education and housing benefits for veterans after World War II… read more about The Arc of Justice Episode 4: Education, the Great Equalizer? featuring Deondra Rose and Adriane Lentz-Smith »
Please join us in congratulating Duke Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences faculty members Ernestine Briggs-King, PhD, Jeremy Grove, PhD, and Sarah Wilson, PhD, on receiving departmental grants to support underrepresented minority faculty members and/or health inequities research! Find out more about their projects here. read more about Three Faculty Receive Departmental Pilot Grants »
On March 20th, 2021, Professor Andrea E. Woods-Valdes joined The Hayti Heritage Center and Souloworks in presenting the Wimmin@Work 2021 virtual celebration for a wimmin’s herstory month celebration. This year’s wimmin's herstory celebration brought a range of eclectic performances from dance, and original song and music to the art of healthy eating, spoken word, and krav maga. It included three virtual/online wimmin@workshops in songwriting, self-defense… read more about Professor Andrea E. Woods-Valdes joined The Hayti Heritage Center and Souloworks in presenting the Wimmin@Work 2021 Virtual Celebration »
Community Outreach & Engagement at Duke Cancer Institute comes of age as team expands. Cancer epidemiologist Tomi Akinyemiju, PhD, MS, was named DCI’s new associate director of the COE team. (how to say her name). DCI senior leadership is excited to welcome a new leader to the COE team to continue efforts to expand Duke Cancer Institute’s community outreach and engagement matrix of research, programs, and strategic partnerships to reduce the cancer burden and close the cancer disparities… read more about Congratulations to Toni Akinyemiju for being named new associate director of Community Outreach and Engagement at DCI »
Tomi Akinyemiju joins a robust core team of community outreach and engagement (COE) leaders at DCI that includes Patierno; medical sociologist Nadine Barrett, PhD, MS, MA, founding director of the Office of Health Equity and current director of Equity, Community and Stakeholder Strategy at both DCI and the Duke Clinical & Translational Science Institute; and Angelo Moore, PhD, MSN, RN, who currently leads the DCI Office of Health Equity (OHE). Duke Cancer Institute COE leaders and staff, together with DCI… read more about Community Outreach & Engagement at Duke Cancer Institute Comes of Age with Strong Team »
Lauren Haynes has been named senior curator of contemporary art, Nasher Museum Director Trevor Schoonmaker announced. She will begin her position as the Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Senior Curator of Contemporary Art on June 7. Haynes comes to Duke from the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, where she has been curator of contemporary art since 2016. Read more about the announcement here. read more about Nasher Museum Names New Senior Curator of Contemporary Art: Lauren Hayes »
Rochelle Newton shares about how she got into STEM and reflects on the challenges she's faced over the course of four decades of experience working in information technology. Read more here. read more about Women in STEM at Duke: Working for Change »
Dr. Gaither is the Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neurology at Duke University and sits down with Joan Green to shed incredible insight around how being biracial effects individuals based on her research, her work and her personal experience. She leads the Duke Identity & Diversity Lab where she and her students work with interracial families to study relationships among various social identities. She has been published in numerous professional publications and also on social platforms like vox.com and the… read more about Dr. Sarah Gaither: Being Biracial - Research and Empowerment »
Darrell Miller, Melvin G. Shimm Professor of Law at Duke, joins professors around the country to affirm the constitutionality of background checks to Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun regulation. Read the statement here. read more about Darrell Miller joins Network of Professors in Statement on the Constitutionality of Background Checks »
BME's Samira Musah’s lab at Duke University focuses on a prevalent, but understudied problem: kidney disease. Her lab uses organ-on-a-chip models to explore the mechanism behind the damaging disease. Read more here. read more about Unlocking the Mysteries Behind Kidney Disease »
Dr. Norbert Wilson reflects on celebrating his 50th birthday during the COVID-19 pandemic. This op-ed was started as a part of the workshop series ran by the Duke Communications team and hosted by Black Think Tank. Read his op-ed here. read more about Dr. Norbert Wilson: Celebrating A Pandemic Birthday »
Building on 60 years of strategic collaborations, Duke University and RTI International have launched a new partnership to jointly develop research projects that address the critical challenges of today and tomorrow. The $5 million partnership, called Forethought, will seed collaborations that showcase the different yet complementary capabilities of the two campuses and also align with external funding and market opportunities. RTI is looking for innovative and compelling research projects that meld… read more about Duke and RTI International Partner to Seed $5 Million in Research Collaborations »
Dean Ashby refelcts on a recent talk called "The Hard Work of Culture Change" at the Association of American Universities. Dean of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Valerie Ashby explained that the only way to foster a diverse, inclusive community is to change the way people relate to each other. “Culture change happens at the speed of trust,” she said. Read more here. read more about Dean Ashby: On Diversity, We Must Lead with Care »
Faculty say that since Donald Trump’s election in 2016, they have seen a rise in students’ interest in reforms that can improve democracy. These include policies shaping voting rights and elections, the distribution of income and wealth, and access to quality education, says Deondra Rose, assistant professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy and director of Research in Polis: Center for Politics. Read more about her comments here. read more about Seeking Answers for a Stronger Democracy »
The NAACP Mystic Valley Area Branch in Massachusetts recently sent every member of Congress a copy of the book “From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century.” Written by reparations scholars William Sandy Darity and A. Kristen Mullen, “From Here to Equality” is considered the preeminent book and argument for reparations. “It is our hope by sending this really important book to our congress it would give us the opportunity to educate them and engage them,” said Schiffon Wong, chair of… read more about NAACP Chapter Is Sending Every Member Of Congress ‘From Here To Equality,’ Book On Reparations »
Dr. Luke A. Powery reflects on the Gospel of Mark as talk about healing grows as more people get vaccinated and the virus metrics move in a better direction. He shares, "As we look forward to these positive developments, it’s worth remembering something less obvious: the newness and change of healing come with costs." Read more here. This is part of a column series that runs on alternate Mondays. read more about Dr. Powery looks to the Bible to explore the cost of healing »
The Office for Faculty Advancement has awarded seed grants to 14 faculty-led projects exploring new ideas and expanding existing initiatives to promote an equitable and inclusive academic environment at Duke. The theme for this cycle was "Confronting Racism and Bias: Fostering an Inclusive Community." Faculty Advancement Seed Grants provide a financial head start for novel faculty development initiatives within academic units. Among the projects, professors Beverly McIver (Art, Art History, Visual Studies),… read more about Seed Grants Help Faculty Lead the Way in Confronting Racism and Bias »
Dr. Gaither (Psych & Neuro) speaks from a very personal place as she comments and unpacks the recent interview Oprah had with Megan Markle and Prince Harry. She shares "as a biracial person in an interracial marriage, I recognized so much of myself while watching Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah." Read her full op-ed here. read more about Dr. Gaither comments on the recent interview with Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, and Oprah in Vox »
Dr. Wylin Wilson (Divinity) shares reflections after a year of the COVID-19 pandemic response in the United States in Duke Medium. Read her story here. read more about Wylin Wilson reflects on a year in the pandemic: Be a Compassionate Listener »
Building from 60 years of success, senior leaders of Duke University and RTI have committed to strengthening collaborations between the two organizations. The Duke Office of Research & Innovation and RTI are interested in engaging Duke faculty in a broad range of research opportunities, including, but not limited to, the newly announced Forethought: The RTI $5M+ Research Collaboration Challenge. Learn more about how to get involved here and check out an informational webinar on… read more about Duke-RTI Collaboration Opportunities »
Duke Today spotlighted "Out of House of Bondage: The Transformation of the Plantation Household," by Dr. Thavolia Glymph (History) among 12 books for Women's History Month. “Out of the House of Bondage” views the plantation household as a site of production where competing visions of gender were wielded as weapons in class struggles between Black and white women. Read more about it and check out the other books here. read more about Duke Today highlights 12 Duke-authored books for Women's History Month »
Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Gaither who was honored as a top instructor on campus. During the 2020 fall semester, in the categories of Overall Quality of Course and/or Overall Quality of Instructor, her course evaluations for at least one course were among the top 5% of all undergraduate instructors teaching in the Natural Sciences. read more about Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Gaither on the recognition as a top instructor on Campus! »
Me Too Monologues Podcast opened their fifth season with guest Professor Adriane Lentz-Smith who discussed what it means to be a black woman in America today. BTT's own Allayne Thomas joined with her performance of the monologue piece "Too." Listen here. read more about Dr. Adriane Lentz-Smith to the show to discusses Black womanhood in America on Duke's Me Too Monologues Podcast »
The letter, sent directly to NC political leaders, was from The Working Group, which was formed under the sponsorship of the Duke Law School Global Financial Markets Center and North Carolina Leadership Forum, also housed at Duke University, to develop policy solutions to an impending eviction crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic contraction that followed. The Working Group’s membership includes representatives of the public, private and nonprofit sectors, such as Lecturing Fellow Jesse… read more about Lecturer Jesse McCoy authored letter to North Carolina leaders with Duke Eviction Prevention Working Group »
Dr. Keisha Bentley-Edwards spoke on a panel "Duke in DC: Health Inequalities & Racial Injustice During COVID-19 | Beyond Talking Points" discussing the current policy environment and what to expect from the executive and legislative branches in 2021. From national security to energy and utilities and from the oceans to health care, faculty experts from Duke will discuss the current policy conversations surrounding these subjects as well as their recommendations for Congress and President Joe Biden. Watch the video… read more about Dr. Keisha Bentley-Edwards spoke on a panel "Duke in DC: Health Inequalities & Racial Injustice During COVID-19 | Beyond Talking Points" »
Dr. Kafui Dzirasa shares his Keynote Address at the 2021 Intersections Science Fellows Symposium. Watch the full presentation here. read more about Dr. Kafui Dzirasa shares his Keynote Address at the 2021 Intersections Science Fellows Symposium »
Duke economist Dr. William “Sandy” Darity discussed Thursday how America’s Black-white wealth gap came to be, and the case for reparations for Black Americans, during a video briefing for the media. The Biden administration recently stated its support for addressing reparations. Watch the briefing here and read the key quotes from DukeToday here. read more about Read key quotes from Dr. Darity's media briefing on reparations »